If I had to name the skills I bring to my work, I would say "writing" and "image editing," but--for a person who takes a tremendous number of pictures--I know remarkably little about photography. More a paparazzo than artist, I shoot teenagers--(often in auto/program mode,) open my images in Adobe Lightroom, and go through a set of edits involving cropping, color saturation, sharpening, etc. At the opposite end of the artistic continuum is Brett Weston (1911-93) whose extraordinary work is on display at the Currier Gallery in Manchester. One of America's great photographers (and the son of the iconic Edward Weston,) Brett explored abstraction, form and light via both dark landscapes and very close images of mundane sand dunes, beach kelp and all forms of flora.

Humbled by Weston's artistry, I gave myself the assignment of mimicking his style on a campus void of my usual subjects.

 

I would never claim that the images on today's page are like Weston's in any way; rather, they are inspired by his technique, attention to form and balance of light with dark.


 

Most of this mimicry is accomplished not with the camera, but with image editing. Nevertheless, I recalled Weston's close-up of automobile detail when I shot these bus mirrors near the fieldhouse:

 

In every case, I start by cropping. For today's purpose, I then desaturate to black and white, augment "blacks" and contrast, and sharpen. Cordwood at Johnson House:

 


This is a monochromatic time of year, and this image from Old Center Cemetery was already desaturated!


 

Weston's abstractions often come from patterns of nature: the fractals of a cactus leader, fern fronds wet with Hawaiian rain, snow-topped rocks in an alpine pool. This is a wetland bisected by the Blackwater Ski Road.


 

And--only a few feet away--ripples on Hameshop Brook as it spills onto the floodplain of the Blackwater River.


 

The exhibit at the Currier, entitled Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow ends January 3, so hurry if you have the chance!